As many of you know, Ron Miller and I had teamed up to run Kankakee Speedway. We were unable to reach an agreement to lease the track. We were very close on the terms for the first year, but very far apart on terms for subsequent years. With the investment we were prepared to make we felt we needed the security of a longer lease. It's unlikely further discussions would have lead to a deal both sides could agree on.
We worked to put a package together that would have been mutually beneficial to racers, fans, the fair board, and the community in general. We had a tremendous response from area businesses that were interested in advertising at the speedway. Its unfortunate for everyone involved this didn't work out because we had a lot of exciting promotions planned including things would bring people new to racing to the speedway.
I wish we could have provided more information to the racers sooner than this, but Ron and I hadn't even met until less than 6 weeks ago! Every spare minute has been spent on lining up equipment, race dates, and taking care of track related business. I want to thank Dennis Yohnka, Bill Yohnka, Rich Webb, and the late Bill Nelson. Without their help and encouragement we wouldn't have come as close as we did to keeping Kankakee Speedway open. I also want to thank Ron for his commitment to racing.
I will not elaborate further on why we couldn't reach an agreement. It's my sincere hope is that someone steps in and runs the track.
Bob Drake